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A domestic violence program that Casey Gwinn launched as city attorney 10 years ago has entered into two illegal contracts and sought a third, a review by current City Attorney Jan Goldsmith concludes.

According to the review, the city partnered with Gwinn’s nonprofit organization — the Family Justice Center Alliance — without competitive bids and without approval from the City Council or the City Attorney’s Office.

In a 10-page report, Goldsmith’s office says the city has so little information about how the program's funds are collected and spent that it has now referred the entire case to City Auditor Eduardo Luna.

“We will continue to review the legal issues as more facts are ascertained, and will keep the mayor and City Council apprised,” Deputy City Attorney Linda Peter wrote.

The Family Justice Center Alliance, of which Gwinn is president, on Monday issued a three-page rebuttal stating that its operations are fully transparent and its agreements are compliant with all city regulations.

“It is disappointing to see a report by the City Attorney filled with insinuation, innuendo and misstatements of law and fact,” board chair Ashley Walker wrote. “Everything the alliance has done to support the center has been at the request of and with the full support and knowledge of the San Diego Police Department, the lead agency for the Family Justice Center.”

In an interview, Walker said she approved agreements like this routinely when she ran the city’s Human Relations Commission.

“If you were in charge of a department, you could make agreements,” she said. “I never knew of anyone as a department head who was signing these agreements that had checked them with the City Attorney’s Office” in advance.

Assistant Police Chief Cesar Solis said the agreements came to light as part of an ongoing effort to improve government.

“It is unclear whether it was necessary to put this type of agreement out for bid or whether it was even a formal, valid agreement,” Solis said. “Either way, those agreements have long since expired in December 2011.”

Gwinn, who built his career as an advocate for domestic violence victims even before serving as city attorney from 1996 to 2004, created the San Diego Family Justice Center as a “one-stop shop” for abused women and children in the late 1990s.

Among other services, the center provides grants, legal help and counseling for victims. It also provides clothes for women seeking to enter the workforce and supports a camp for child victims and at-risk youth.

The Family Justice Center operated as a city department from 2004 to 2009.

In 2008, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced plans to transfer the center to the YWCA of San Diego at a cost of $9 million over 10 years, but the plan fizzled. At the time, Gwinn was serving as chief executive officer of the local YWCA chapter.

Two years later, Sanders reorganized the center and put it under the operation and management of the police department. Solis said the city spent about $1 million on the center in the past three years, most of that on payroll.